NZ man banned by Aussie regulators

Auckland man Geoffrey Woodcock has been banned from providing financial services in Australia for four years.

An Auckland man who according to regulators didn't tell people he would keep 40 per cent of their investment as commission has been banned from providing financial services in Australia for four years.

Geoffrey Woodcock, says the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC), was the founder or director of two companies that promoted "alternative investments" across the Tasman.

These firms, Capital Alternatives and Velvet Assets, do not appear to be registered in this country.

ASIC said today that neither the companies nor Woodcock were holders of Australian financial services (AFS) licenses.

The regulatory body said that some of the alternative investments promoted by the companies were financial products and that the firms therefore needed to have a license.

ASIC also said that Woodcock had "personally induced clients to invest by failing to disclose that around 40-45 per cent of the money invested would be retained as commission".

"The Australian financial services licensing regime provides safeguards. Consumers should not invest with a person or entity in Australia unless they are authorised by, or hold, an AFS licence," ASIC commissioner Greg Tanzer said today.

Woodcock has a right to appeal his four year ban, ASIC said.